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Siri has gotten its fair share of scrutiny over the years, with many believing it’s falling behind in the smart assistant game despite being the first major company to market with the technology. Bill Stasior, who was responsible for Siri over the last seven years, has recently left the company. According to a report from The Information, Stasior joined the Siri team in 2012, focusing on leading the group. This was after two of Siri’s creators had left the team, however, they remained at Apple working on other projects....

While the Xserve will be officially discontinued next week, Apple has updated the Xserve buy page to reflect an April shipping date. This could very well mean that the product’s final orders will only ship in April of this year, or could simply be an automated date based on the amount of units Apple has in stock. Apple is looking to replace the Xserve for business customers with their already existing Mac mini server product and the new Mac Pro server....

It seems Apple’s supply of the iPhone 5 is finally keeping up with the demand — or demand is lower due to the Android competition. And now you can get the phone without the hassles of a carrier contract. To get one, go to iPhone’s 5’s page on the Apple Store and choose a color — black or white. Then scroll past the prices for the smartphone with a wireless service plan and click “Or get iPhone unlocked and contract-free”....

Apple is making some big changes as it seeks to focus more on Services revenue at a time when it’s struggling to grow its hardware business. The company has set itself a goal of generating $50B per year from Services by 2020. How successful it will be in using Services to replace lost hardware revenue is the key question, and commentators are pointing to a mix of good and bad news …...

On its Newsroom website today, Apple is sharing the story of an Apple team member who is “giving people in need new beginnings.” The story specifically focuses on the Saints of Steel nonprofit. The Saints of Steel nonprofit was founded by Jaz Limos, the manager of the Apple Park Visitor Center. Saints of Steel is a nonprofit pop-up barber shop and makeover event, designed for people looking for “employment, housing, and a fresh start....

Following the attempted breach into Apple’s iOS and Mac Developer Center and its subsequent closing, Apple has posted an iCloud-like Status Page so developers can track Apple’s work for re-implementing Developer Portal Features. Additionally, Apple has outlined its approach to restoring these features. Apple will first restore Certificates and Provisioning, forums, bug reporting, documentation, and videos so that developers can continue developing apps at their old pace. Later, the iOS, Mac, and Xcode seeds will become available for download online....

The eventual resolution of last year’s big patent trial between Apple and Samsung is one step closer after Samsung was denied a retrial over one of the patents concerned: the ‘bounce-back’ or ‘rubber-banding’ effect when a user scrolls past the end of a document. At the trial, which concluded a year ago tomorrow, each company accused the other of infringing on a range of patents … The jury found that Apple didn’t infringe any of Samsung’s patents, while Samsung was found to have wilfully infringed five of Apple’s patents, including Patent ‘381: the rubber-banding effect....

Bono’s (Product)RED charity, which Apple contributes to by selling special red versions of iOS devices and accessories, today announced Apple’s contributions to the charity have reached $70 million. Back in September, the charity announced that Apple’s contributions had reached $65 million making it the largest contributor out of participating companies donating portions of profits from products sold under the (Product)Red branding. Apple currently sells red versions of the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPad Smart Cover, and iPhone cases under the (PRODUCT)RED branding....

Apple plans to release its next Mac operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, at the end of October, according to sources with knowledge of the launch plans. This comes despite claims and speculation that Apple will release OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 in tandem this month. iOS 7 is set to ship alongside the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C later in September. There has also been chatter about Apple holding the iPad iOS 7 release back until October....

Earlier today we reported that the kernel of the first developer preview of iOS 10 is unencrypted – a first for any iOS version. At the time, we weren’t entirely sure if Apple had deliberately done this or if was an error and would get reverted in the next beta of the operating system. Apple has confirmed to TechCrunch, however, that making the kernel unencrypted was an intentional move. In a statement, an Apple spokesperson explained that the kernel cache does not contain any user information and by unencrypting it, performance can be better optimized and security is not compromised....

Less than a week after seeding the initial build of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1 (build 12B13), Apple has followed up with a new build to developers. The beta, coming in at build number 12B17, has no known issues. Apple asks developers to focus on Active Directory, iCal, Microsoft Exchange in Mail, PAC proxies in Safari, SMB, USB, and WiFi and audio when connected to an Apple Thunderbolt Display. 10.X.1 OS X updates are usually maintenance updates released soon after the initial 10....

While Apple itself doesn’t break out Apple Watch sales in its own earnings reports, we can generally get a good idea of the device’s performance thanks to research companies. Today, Canalys is out with a new report covering the smartwatch industry during Q3, and Apple Watch continues to grow at a solid rate… According to the data, Apple shipped 3.5 million Apple Watch units worldwide during Q2 2018, up 30 percent compared to the same quarter last year....

Apple’s Pro Display XDR has been announced as one of the “Displays of the Year” by The Society for Information Display. These awards are presented to the displays with the “most significant technological advances and/or outstanding features.” Other winners this year include Samsung’s foldable display, Audi’s OLED Virtual Mirror System, and BOE Technology’s 65-Inch UHD BD Cell Display. The Pro Display XDR is praised for its excellent high-dynamic-range (HDR) performance, particularly in comparison to many of the OLED panels on the market....

There’s long been much talk about Apple’s China problems, a topic given new impetus this year by the company revealing that falling iPhone sales in the country was almost the sole reason for missing its original holiday quarter guidance. CEO Tim Cook said in January that revenue in China fell $4.8B year-on-year, while sales increased elsewhere. Two more analysts have commented this week, with Credit Suisse taking the more pessimistic view …...

Apple’s iPhone is driving the mobile industry forward. Where Apple steps, competitors very soon follow. A decision by Apple to adopt a specific technology inside a product soon translates into a rush to secure that specific component. From SSD flash storage to touchscreens we’ve seen the followers take their place. And it seems the same for gyroscopes, movement sensors and other microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices, where Apple’s decision to put these inside its products has driven a fast market expansion....

Apple’s highly-focused approach means that it spends a smaller percentage of its revenue on research & development than almost any other tech company. But it ramped up R&D spending significantly in its most recent fiscal quarter. The WSJ noted that Apple increased its R&D spend by 15% in the quarter ending in July, hitting a total of $11.2B for the 12-month period. Things get more interesting, argues the paper, when you view it in percentage terms …...

Apple’s suppliers in Taiwan are complaining that their profits are being squeezed due to currency fluctuations. Touch-panel supplier, Wintek, estimates that it is losing half a percent off of its margins. Another firm, Largan Precision Co., a camera-lens supplier for Apple, said a 1 percent appreciation knocks 0.4 point off the measure of profitability. The effect? Wintek CFO Jay Huang told BusinessWeek: A lot of the technology firms in Taiwan are export- oriented, so if the strong currency continues we might have to think about raising prices....

Update: Apple shared two more ads, one for AirPods called “Notes” and another for Apple Watch focused on Activity. View them below. Apple today has shared two new advertisements for its truly wireless AirPods. The new videos mark the first advertisements for the AirPods from Apple and come in at 15 seconds each, with the first highlighting the pairing process and the second highlighting Siri support. The first ad is called “iPhone 7 + AirPods – Pairing” and depicts a user opening the AirPods case to pair them to his iPhone 7....

When I purchased the early 2020 MacBook Air, at the time, I said it was the ideal laptop for K-12. In a fashion that only Apple can do, they’ve topped their computer just a few months after its release. After switching to the M1 Apple Silicon MacBook Air a few weeks ago, it’s undoubtedly the best laptop ever built for education. About Making The Grade: Every other Saturday, Bradley Chambers publishes a new article about Apple in education....

Apple today has pushed a minor update to the Apple Store application on iOS. The update brings the app to version 4.2 and while it doesn’t add any major new features, Apple says it is full of under-the-hood improvements. The update’s change log is about as simple as can be, with Apple simply saying there are various improvements related to performance and other areas. The Apple Store application for iOS allows users to easily shop for the company’s products, view order status, and other tasks....